ORLANDO – The UCF women's basketball team battled to a 66-62 victory over Tulane in the American Athletic Conference opener in Addition Financial Arena on Tuesday evening.
UCF (3-1, 1-0 The American) fell behind early as Tulane (3-2, 0-1 The American) held a 14-8 advantage after the first quarter. The Knights outscored the Green Wave in the second period, but a basket in the final seconds of the frame gave Tulane a 29-28 edge at halftime.
The Knights found themselves down by five, 35-30, in the opening minutes of the third quarter, but a 6-0 spurt put UCF back in front for the first time since the opening minutes of the game. The teams traded leads over the next few minutes of game action before a five-point burst from Alisha Lewis, followed by a fastbreak layup from Diamond Battles put UCF in front for good. The Knights led 49-44 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Green Wave made a push in the fourth, cutting UCF's lead to two points, 62-60, with just over a minute remaining. Clutch free throws from Lewis and Courtajia Sanders secured the Black and Gold win.
SQUAD GOALS
- Seven of the 10 Knights that saw action finished with at least two points and four Knights finished in double figures.
- Eight Knights collected at least one rebound.
- Eight members of the Black and Gold contributed to UCF's season-high 18 assists.
- UCF's bench accounted for 30 of its 66 points on the evening.
A NUMBERS GAME
- UCF forced Tulane into 19 turnovers and converted them into 23 points.
- The Knights collected 12 steals which lead to 19 fastbreak points.
- The Black and Gold defense held Tulane to just 36.8 percent from the field in the fourth quarter.
- UCF limited reigning American Athletic Conference Player of the Week Jerkaila Jordan to just 12 points, well below her season average of 19.3 points per game.
- The Knights have now won five of the last seven meetings against the Green Wave.
- UCF is now 6-2 in its American Athletic Conference openers, with a 4-1 record under head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. The Knights have won four straight league openers.
Masseny Kaba led all scorers with 15 points. Diamond Battles and Courtajia Sanders each chipped in 11 points and Alisha Lewis added 10. Destiny Thomas pulled down a team-high eight rebounds for UCF.
UP NEXT
UCF heads out for a two-game road trip, beginning with an American Athletic Conference matchup at Tulsa on Dec. 19. The Knights close out the trip in the nonconference finale at Georgia Tech on Dec. 21.
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